


After The End

by Magestii



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, post-apocolyptic au, synthetic human au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 18:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7813057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magestii/pseuds/Magestii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world wracked with the scars of a nuclear war, humans must live underground in order to avoid radiation poisoning. An organization known as Vocaloid produces synthetic humans who are trained from birth to return to the surface and make it safe for humans again. They were trained to fight enemies of the human race, however they had not accounted for the humans who had been left behind...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So That's a Thing

Finally, after years of training, the time had come for Miku to become partnered for life with a determined equal, someone with whom she would fight eternally side-by-side. It had been described by the seniors as 'locked in an ever-deepening dance of trust and compassion.' Being born, or built, rather, into the anticipation of what would await her upon finally completing solo-training and meeting her lifetime partner, the moment left her excited and slightly nervous for the first time in years. She had practiced her part of the dance seamlessly every morning before she headed to training, memorizing the moves by touch so that she could complete them even in an instance of forgetfulness. She waited in a small, dark room. White light seeped in from outside, coloring the walls before her until fading into beautiful darkness. She knew that her partner was going to be her equal, but at the same time she was worried, seeming as they were usually assigned from birth unless extreme differences in performance were displayed. She knew that he would probably be someone that she had either never seen before, or someone that she saw on a daily basis. It could not be Len, because their scores varied by over one-hundred, meaning that even if they were assigned at birth, she would have received a partner of better equality. The sound of the previous set of partners completing their dance was nerve-wracking, but anyone worthy of a partner after being trained wouldn't let that interfere with their performance. A crowd roared, and Miku couldn't even remember why it was there in the first place, but it had something to do with merit and prestige.

She heard a 'click' signifying that the partnered people had entered their joined booth, and prepared herself, taking a deep breath and watching the wall in front of her with a concentrated expression. Unclenching her fists and wiping her palms on her legs, she was ready as a secondary click raised the panel in front of her and let her step onto the walkway before her. As she took in the room, she did not let her eyes stray from her path. She was on a bright white catwalk that was thinly bordered with silver, illuminating the room around it. Far below the path in a bowl-shaped arena, there was an audience that appeared navy-blue thanks to overhead lights. Before her, there was a circular platform that was wider than the path that led to it. The platform was centered by a silver axis signifying where the dancers could not stand, and three other paths branched out from it. Branching out from the center to Miku's right was a walkway that a well-dressed man had begun to ascend. To her left, a pathway led to a booth that was three times the size of the room that she had just left, which was where the partners would go when they had completed the ceremony. Finally, directly before her, on the opposing side of the raised circular platform was another path, where she could see a pink-haired woman approaching.

Miku almost lost her composure, but remembered that failure at partnering resulted in being labeled as 'deficient' and thrown into storage. In any other situation, she would be overjoyed. The strongest person in the entirety of the training force had been assigned her partner. This was someone that she fell second to by only a few points, making her logically the partner to be most aspired for. The crowd, which had been watching them grow up as if it were a reality-television show, all displayed the awe that Miku was too professional to express. Some of the members of the audience snickered, knowing full well about the rivalry that the women shared. Almost everyone was very aware of the moderately humorous situation. This was a woman that Miku had barely surpassed on her final challenge, and by a half-point.

They finally finished the seemingly infinite walk towards one another. Standing on opposite sides of the center of the circular platform, the turned mechanically towards the man that had been approaching, coming to stand beside one another in nearly perfect symmetry that was only disrupted by their height difference. They turned towards one another a final time, and waited for the man's signal. Upon receiving it, Miku extended her hand for Luka to take and they stood there silently, both incredibly angry, yet appearing sobered as they made eye contact.

"Miku Hatsune, unit 01 and Luka Megurine, unit 03," the man began speaking, and both of the addressed women stood like statues, not even nodding in acknowledgement, "in this universe plagued with discord, in a time torn and crushed by trillions of different forces, all warring against one another with seemingly no end in sight, you two are to be partnered. You will fight alongside one another always, for the rest of an eternity, and in you I imbed the strongest, purest bond of trust. Before you speak the bond, do either of you have any objections to our choice in your partnership?"

Miku knew that she could speak up and be given very little penalty. She could speak up and ask for a different partner. She stared into the woman's ice blue eyes, waiting for her to make her objections. They both stood there in silence. Why wasn't Luka saying anything? Why wasn't Luka asking for a different partner? The other woman appeared to be waiting for Miku to do the same, and thusly, no objections were voiced.

"Do you agree to your partnership?" asked the man. "Please confirm your bond." For an eternity disguised as a second, neither woman spoke. Then, seemingly reaching an annoyed agreement, they both confirmed the statement.

"I, Luka Megurine, agree to a partnership with Miku Hatsune."

"I, Miku Hatsune, agree to a partnership with Luka Megurine." The crowd murmured upon Miku's response, clearly surprised that neither woman had spoken against their assigned bond.

"Very well, speak the bond." said the man, taking note of every interaction.

"Unit 01, Miku Hatsune," Luka started speaking, "though life around us has turned to chaos, the depths of which can not be known, I pledge always to be by your side and hold your life as I would my own." To Miku's surprise, she had evidently been taught the other half of the speech despite being the same sex. "I bond myself to you, Miku Hatsune, for as long as I can protect your life with mine. I trust myself to you, and for the rest of eternity, pledge to our partnership." she finished. The speech was short, but it was unusual for a partner to modify the original text anyway. Miku began her part of the pledge.

"Unit 03, Luka Megurine, when the future is no longer a thing to be seen, I will stand proudly beside you to face the unknown, never will fear interrupt my attention, I pledge to defend your life as my own." she continued, staring into Luka's eyes as they stood motionlessly before a silent audience, "I bond myself to you, Luka Megurine, for as long as I can protect your life with mine. I trust myself to you, and for the rest of eternity, pledge to our partnership." There was a brief silence in which neither woman breathed before the man spoke again.

"You may begin the bond on the count of three." said the man. Luka raised her arm, not allowing any stiffness to seep into it despite her annoyance, and Miku twirled once, before they resumed their prior stance. The man initiated the countdown, and music played. Luka began to lead Miku, gracefully pulling her through the steps that they had both practiced for an indeterminable amount of hours. They danced elegantly, coming together and dancing apart in an act full of slow spins and idle yet brisk steps. After five minutes, Luka twirled Miku a final time and they came to a stop, standing at the opposing side of the circular platform from the man. They stepped back and bowed to one another, as if entirely unaware of the audience, before standing up. The man nodded, and they began to walk down the path that led to the shared chamber. Once the panel opened and they walked inside, they felt the room rotate in a circular motion with a 'click' so that the next partners would have one of their own. Neither woman spoke. They both occasionally shot glances at one another, but didn't dare act out since any unusual behavior would be filmed and released publicly. They stood there for a considerable portion of time before Miku walked over to the back wall and occupied a solitary couch. Seeing this as a challenge, Luka sat down as well, not allowing herself to be the only one standing as Miku relaxed.

Miku curled up on her end of the couch, making herself comfortable while basking in the annoyance that she was almost certainly causing the other woman. Luka tossed her hair over her shoulder, feigning nonchalance. They felt the room turn in another circular motion and heard a 'click,' signifying that there were probably only fifty more pairs to go before they had to leave. After a long period of silence, Luka heard an almost inaudible purr and turned to glance in disbelief at Miku, who appeared to have fallen asleep. She felt tired simply looking at the other woman, suddenly wanting to curl up and share in her sleep, but she didn't expect to be woken up, and wasn't particularly in favor of living for the rest of eternity inside of the partner room.

After a while, she succumbed to the sleepiness that seemed to be radiating from the other woman and fell into a peaceful slumber. Hours later, she awoke groggily and glanced around the room, feeling the terror of abandonment for a moment before seeing Miku sitting next to her, watching the numbers on the wall. There were only fifteen pairs left. She felt Miku's gaze on her and turned to regard the other woman. Neither partner wanted to back down, and so the accidental glance turned into a full-fledged staring competition that very quickly escalated into awkwardness.

"So we're partners." said Miku, deciding to accept reality.

"Why didn't you say no?" asked Luka, beating the other woman to her point.

"I was waiting for you to say no." Miku responded defensively. Luka responded that she had been waiting for Miku to say no.

"But the world out there is dangerous." said Luka, "Not to mention the universe, and the galaxy. Partnership is a...lifetime commitment. We couldn't just get into it half-heartedly." Miku just shrugged, causing a few strands of teal hair to fall over her shoulder.

"What I'm trying to say is, I don't know why you hated me in the first place, but we really need to end competition now. I'm your partner, and you're mine. We will never have a relationship with anybody else that is stronger nor nearly as intimate as this one. We need to agree to actually be there for one another." Luka said, pausing for a moment before she continued. "I have to trust you."

"I thought I hated you because you...hated...me?" Miku asked questioningly. "Besides, when I spoke the pledge, I meant it."

"You're remembering things incorrectly. You hated me before I hated you." stated Luka, confused.

"No, on the first day after you were put into the training, I went up to you and you entirely avoided me before constantly glaring in my direction." said Miku.

"What?" asked Luka, "Oh, no, I was just really shy. When you approached me, I had no idea what to do, and I freaked out. Then I kept looking at you because I was afraid you'd talk to me again."

"Oh..." muttered Miku, moderately disturbed that it took a lifelong bond for them to discuss this, "But... then you kept trying so hard to... best... me?" she stated confusedly.

"Not at first. Then you started getting angry, so I worked harder." said Luka, "That was when I started to actually fight you." There was a pause.

"...Oh."


	2. Chapter 2

"So," Luka began, walking down the white-tiled corridor, "if I hadn't walked away...what would you have said?" Miku paused for a moment, thinking.

"I would have said... 'Hi, my name is Miku Hatsune, unit 01. I can't wait to start working with you.' then I would have smiled, probably, and said 'You look nervous. Don't worry, I can already tell you're going to be great!'"

"Oh." said Luka. She paused, entirely uncertain of how to respond to her arch rival turning out to be a good person. After a moment of consideration, she spoke again. "Well then I would have responded: 'Hey, I'm Luka Megurine, unit 03... what happens in the rooms?'" she paused, "I mean I know now, but at the time, I was curious and terrified." Miku was silent for a very long period of time."So I've been angry at you for all of these years purely over a hastily escalating misunderstanding?" she asked.

"Looks like I'm guilty of the same thing." Luka responded, not wanting her to take all of the blame.

"No, but at least you had a reason to. I mean I started acting out based off of a misjudgment that I made, and you started acting out based on my actions." Miku argued. "I could have at least gone up to you a few days later."

"But you thought that when I kept scoring above you and glancing over, that I was being subtly aggressive, so it's understandable that you didn't. And besides, when you kept glancing at me, I made the assumption that you were angry, so we both acted on assumptions at first." Luka explained.

"The feud that we've been undergoing since we were of an eligible age to compete has been purely based off of assumptions." Miku concluded, sounding slightly exasperated.

"It would seem so." Luka responded. They kept walking in silence for another moment before Miku came to stand in front of her, bringing her to a halt and executing a cliché older than time itself.

"Right then. I'm unit 01, Miku Hatsune." she stated, extending a hand. After a moment's hesitation, Luka took the hand and shook it.

"I'm unit 03, Luka Megurine." she said, feeling slightly silly for going through with the significant yet meaningless exchange. After they shook hands, they resumed walking down the hall in a silence that wasn't necessarily uncomfortable.

 

Their temporary room was like an apartment used to be, having the necessary number of rooms to sustain bionic lives, but it was not precisely a comfortable and open space. In any regards, it was tremendously larger than the tiny, rectangular bedroom that each new fighter would be given to live in until they passed through their training. Whatever few possessions that they had managed to obtain over the course of their lives were arranged about a small living space before them, which was complete with a couch, table, and bookshelf. After rooting through each of their possessions, they entered the sleeping room and sat down on the bed, facing one another.

"We are supposed to be in this room when the food appears, right?" asked Miku, glancing around. Luka confirmed her suspicions by nodding. After a brief silence that was spent taking in the room around them, Luka was the first to speak.

"What do you suppose it'll be like?" she asked. There was no immediate response.

"The way I hear it, full of chaos and war." Miku responded honestly, knowing full well that the thought terrified both of them despite their training. "Whatever it's like, we were designated partners for a reason. When they put us out there, it'll be because they knew we'd be the best potential partners for one another. We'll have to feel it out first, but I'll have your back."

"And I yours." Luka muttered. After a while, she spoke again. "Do you think we'll actually affect the chaos?"

"There's no way to know for sure until we see what it is that they've been telling us about." Miku responded, turning to Luka with a small smile, "But I'd guess that we have a fighting chance. I might've been frustrated by your constant ability to outrank me by just a few points, but I have no doubts that you're more than my equal in this situation. I also know that I constantly scored second-best, and so I should be a competent partner. Whatever awaits us, we might not be ready, but we're pretty prepared."

A tube slid from the ceiling, hanging just six inches from the bed. Panels on either side of the tube opened so that the partners could see one another, as well as plates of actual food before them. At the sight, Luka's eyes widened considerably, and Miku brought her thumb up to the corner of her mouth slowly to wipe away a bit of drool.

"That's..." Luka muttered.

"Yeah..." Miku responded, transfixed by the real food before them. They both sat forward, eager to dig in, yet making certain to eat the meal slowly so that they could savor the taste of real, pure food that wasn't inorganic goo. Not only wasn't it goo, but it tasted delicious. After taking a few bites, Miku reached to a space between their plates where a note sat, reading it thoroughly. To eat all of the food so suddenly seemed to be a waste, and yet she knew of no alternative, especially with no way to store anything anyway. After almost an hour spent making conversation over a slow meal, the two women sat back, and the tube receded. Miku had passed the note to Luka, and they had both read that they had one week of preparation before being released to the top forever, as was normal. It also suggested pressing their hands together so that they would be able to direct energy as a method of energy sharing, which neither woman had been taught in training. It hadn't been taught in training because various powers were wildly different. Partners were partnered because of multiple factors, one of which would be sharing compatible energy that wouldn't cause any harm to either party. Without knowing their future partners, it was remarkably dangerous to attempt, and they were supposed to complete training alone to assess their partnership potential in the first place, among other things. The only exceptions to that rule had been Rin and Len, who were born twins and instantly assigned partners at birth.

Miku glanced up at Luka, who didn't meet her gaze, and they both decided to wait until the brief conclusion training was offered to test it out, falling asleep instead.

Miku surprised herself by being the first to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly, surprised by the comfort of the bed and the fact that, for once, walls were not practically touching both sides of her body. When she had taken the time to get her bearings, she noticed the pink-haired woman beside her and practically jumped out of her skin, barely able to keep herself from instinctively firing a shot of energy at her as she remembered the previous night's partnering ceremony. Exhaling slowly, she felt the muscles in her body slowly relax and sat with her back against the headboard of the bed. She turned her head slightly to regard the face that she had grown to hate, becoming thoroughly confused. She asked herself if Luka had really turned out to be such a decent person, and if it was the truth that she had been stupid enough to start a multi-year long feud over an extremely simple misunderstanding.

Luka's eyes sleepily rolled open before widening considerably. She had also forgotten about the previous night's ceremony, but unlike Miku, she was less physical about expressing it because she was less spontaneous. Miku bid her good morning before automatically changing her clothes with the press of a button as Luka did the same. It wasn't long before breakfast arrived, coming from the ceiling in the same silver tube-like table as it had the previous night. Miku's eyes widened considerably at the meal before her. Not only had she been given dinner in bed, but she had been provided with a delicious looking breakfast consisting of real food. They both ate it slowly and sparingly, but also hurrying to enjoy the taste of unfamiliar foods such as toasted bread and a substance that looked sort of like the goo that they were fed, but was yellow and of a much more delicious consistency. Alongside that, there was an orange beverage that was thicker than water and tasted like fruit, which in its solid form was an extreme rarity around the training center.

"Do you like the color teal?" Luka asked out of nowhere. Miku blinked.

"I haven't really thought about it before." she responded after a moment, taking it into consideration. "The walls in this place have no color, and before I was training-ready, I suppose it was the only color I saw. I think I like it, yes, why do you ask?"

"Your uniform is themed in teal, and I was curious. You wear an abundance of it, and so I was unsure as to whether or not you chose it that way or that was your natural assignment, since I had thought that we were assigned uniforms in a mostly random fashion, as well as physical traits." Luka responded. This was the first mundane conversation either of them had ever had that didn't revolve somewhat around training.

"Did you get a practice doll?" Miku asked after a moment's pause. Luka nodded and raised her hand. Momentarily, a stuffed pink octopus was taken into the room and set by her side. She finished the last of the food, and the table went back into the ceiling. Placing her hand on the creature's head, which looked a bit like an extremely simplified version of her face, Luka channeled her energy through the doll. Eventually, she removed her hand and had it walk around on its eight legs, jumping and dealing tiny attacks that would cause no harm. Miku had floated what appeared to be a stuffed tinier version of herself and brought it to life. Smiling slightly, Luka channeled a bit of her energy through one of her stuffed-animal's front tentacles, making sounds that were similar to gunshots in a videogame with her mouth. The energy hit Miku's, and she manipulated it to make it appear as if the tiny stuffed animal was hurt, stumbling back a little. She then channeled a harmless amount of her energy through a tall, greenish plush vegetable in her stuffed-animal's hand and had it hit her opponent's plush. Luka made the creature stumble backwards on its eight legs before declaring war.

Quickly, both women were moving their stuffed-animals in a fast-paced battle, still remaining careful not to deal any actual damage. Elegant leaps and dodges were tossed into the mix, soon creating an elaborate battle scene as they both expertly manipulated their lifetime possessions. Miku moved her doll to attack Luka's physically, still making certain to be too gentle to cause harm, but when contact was made, she nearly dropped it entirely. An unfamiliar energy coursed through her veins, surprising her with it's different feel. Not knowing what to do, she channeled it back into her stuffed-animal and saw it shoot out from the place where both creatures were touching, crashing into the wall and leaving a scorch mark.

"I..." Miku tried to find the words to apologize, but she was still slightly dazed, absentmindedly levitating her stuffed-animal into her lap.

"I'm sorry!" Luka beat her to it, provoking confusion from Miku. "I-I don't know what happened, I just felt... I'm sorry!"

"What?" Miku's confusion intensified, before turning to shock. The other woman appeared to be terror-stricken and on the verge of tears. "Luka, I don't know what you mean." Miku explained, having absolutely no experience calming anyone down.

"Don't you see? The m-mark on the wall that I just made." Luka had actually begun to cry, and Miku shifted a bit closer to her, still entirely unaware of how she could make the other woman calm down.

"Luka, I thought I made it." she responded.

"But I...I p-pushed the energy through my hand b-because it was unfamiliar and it felt weird-" Luka began, breaking off once she met Miku's gaze and realized that she wasn't angry.

"There's no reason to get upset about it, I'm not angry and the wall's repairing itself anyway." Miku said, pointing to the almost entirely pristine space to her right. "Besides, I thought that I was the one who pushed the energy... You don't need to cry, I wouldn't get angry at you even if it was your fault."

"You're not mad at me?" Luka asked shakily. Miku had absolutely never seen the other woman in even the slightest of a vulnerable position, and she was thoroughly out of her comfort zone.

"No, not at all." On top of her empathy, there was an echo of something else. Miku felt as if she had two entirely separate tracks of emotion that were somehow one at the same time. Deciding to push her luck and experiment a bit, she exhaled, relaxing all of the muscles in her body and becoming calm. As she did that, she saw an extremely subtle change in the other woman. Suddenly she smiled, laughing a little bit and provoking an indignant response from Luka.

"I think we just mixed energy, like the instructions that the card gave us last night." she said, responding to the incredulous look that she was being given. Realization dawned on Luka and she appeared to entirely calm down. Miku felt the last traces of the other woman's emotions leave her body, and was subconsciously disappointed, wanting to share energy again.

"That was..." Luka muttered, not finishing her sentence.

"Yeah." Miku responded. They both got lost in thought for a long while before Miku's mind clicked, reminding her that she and Luka would have to be at the conclusion training in five minutes. Exiting the bed and cleansing her teeth with a 'click', she reminded a still dazed Luka of the time, provoking similar actions from her before they both left the room.


End file.
